Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Spinal Decompression-Physical therapy NYC

I found this great article about a man that regained the ability to walk with spinal decompression.Read article click hereThis article makes me think of a patient that I am currently treating.She is 65 with severe spinal stenosis and needs a wheelchair because walking more than 5 feet was painful.She has undergone 12 visits of decompression on the DRX 9000 and now she is able to stand without pain and walk several blocks with no pain. She is also regained strength and stability by using the PowerPlate.www.drshoshany.com

Paralyzed man regains use of legs

By MICHELE MARCOTTEThe Daily Sentinel

Monday, December 22, 2008

Dr. Florencio Singson describes him as a success story.

Jerry Mason, a 66-year-old Parkinson's disease patient, lost the use of his legs nearly two years ago. But he has regained the ability to walk following a 40-course-treatment of Intervertebral Differential Dynamics — a noninvasive spinal decompression treatment that stretches the discs of the back — followed by laser acupuncture.

Christy Wooten/The Daily SentinelA trained staff member at Dr. Florencio Singson's office performs laser acupuncture to the back of Jerry Mason's leg. Mason, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, lost the use of his legs two years ago, but recently began to walk again as a result of acupuncture and spinal decompression.

Mason, seated inside Singson's Nacogdoches office on a recent Thursday, explained that regaining the use of his legs has been a gradual process.

"I'm limited in how far I can walk," he said. "I can make three laps around the house and then I'm done ... But it's been great."

Mason said approximately two years ago, back pain caused from two herniated discs slowly reduced his ability to move, and eventually hindered him completely from walking.

He said he relied almost entirely on his wife, Judy, to get him from one place to the other.

"I couldn't even go to the kitchen to make a sandwich because halfway through getting the mayo on there, I'd go down," he said.

His doctors recommended surgery, but warned Jerry that it would be a long procedure, requiring the insertion of steel rods, and he might not survive.

Judy said just about that time, she saw an advertisement for Dr. Singson which read, "Tired of living with neck and back pain?"

Having spinal complications of her own, she set up an appointment for herself and Jerry, who continued to suggest his paralysis stemmed from back problems.

Judy said during Jerry's treatments, which were Monday through Friday, Jerry would be placed on this long table-like contraption with something holding his chest and hips.

Singson said the spinal compression stretches the spine, enabling herniated discs to realign through oscillation. He noted that heat and massage are also incorporated into the computer-based treatment.

Judy said her husband began the spinal decompression treatments in August, and after a few weeks she began to notice a change.

"One day it just got easier for me to pull him out of the chair," she said, adding that she used to move her husband by pulling on a thick white strap he wore across his chest.

So after Jerry completed his last decompression treatment, Singson started him on acupuncture once a week. The acupuncture treatments, which lasted about 30 minutes, were painless, according to Jerry.

"Most of the time he just slept," Judy said with a laugh.

Singson started with the back of Jerry's legs to help improve nerve function, and has plans to move up to the hands later. The laser, which resembles a reflex hammer, is connected to a large box where adjustments can be made for frequency and time. Singson, a native of the Philippines, became familiar with the practice while in medical school, following a doctor who had learned acupuncture techniques while in China. When he moved to the United States, Singson received acupuncture certification from the University of California Irvine.

Singson said when Jerry began the acupuncture treatments, his staff would need to help Jerry onto the table, but one day, after several weeks of treatments, Jerry was able to do it by himself, and began to walk soon thereafter.

"For him to be able to do so much, it just makes you feel kind of good," Singson said, as he supervised members of his staff perform laser acupuncture on Jerry. "He's just doing great."

Singson said it is unknown how long Jerry will have to continue acupuncture, or if he will ever regain enough leg movement to be able to walk without a walker.